Impeoyiment



w. w. St. JOHN.

. Wheel Cultivator. I No. 60,589. Patented Dec. 18,1866.

a I i T. a;

match tstes .strnt ,fftrr.

IMPROVEMENTIN COMBINED GANG-PLOUGH AND GUITIVATOR.

WILLIAM W. ST. JOHN, OF ST. LOUI S, MISSOURI. Letters Patent No. 60,5 89, dated December 18, 1866; anteclated December 2, 1866.

"dip galplmle rzfamh in in time ii Burrs haunt mm mating part of the smile.

TO 'ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, W. W. ST. JoHN, of the city and county of St. Louis, and State of lliissouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gang-Ploughs and Cultivators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear description --thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying, drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a plan of the improved gang-plough and cultivator.

Figure 2 is a rear end elevation of the same; and

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line a b, figs. 1 and 2.

This invention relates, firstly, to the regulation of the width of the machine by the peculiar mechanism of rt 1 parts; secondly, to the combination of gang-ploughs and oultivators; or, rather, the convertibility of one ,nachine into either of these implements at pleasure, so that either machine may be used as occasion may require,

hereby afi'ording great economy in the construction of these implcments, as one frame and carriage may be unployed'for both purposes; thirdly, to the arrangement of the handles or levers which are employed for the purpose of raising the ploughs up out of the ground; fourthly, to the guiding-bars, which give steadiness to the ploughs; fifthly, to the peculiar construction of the plough-beams and their connection with the permanent or fixed frame of the implement; and, sixthly, t0 the device for raising and lowering the axles of the wheels. To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my combined machine, I will proceed to describe its construction 'and operation.

A is a transverse beam, placed directlyover the wheels B, which are connected with it by means of the forked wheel-stands B, on the tops' of which the beam rests, and to which it is secured by the bolts a passing through the two parts, so as to allow them to turn on it in such a manner as to form a swivel-joint between them. The two posts A are erected upon the top of the beam A. and capped by the beam A There are two longitudinal beams,. C, that are securely fastened to the inner sides of the wheel-stands, parallel with the faces of the wheels; and the braces 12, running from the forward end of each of them to the lower ends of the wheel-stands, secure perfect rigidity between these parts. The forward ends of the beams O are suspended under the crossbar D by means of short links, (2, or their equivalents, so as to form a hinge-joint between these parts, in order to allow a lateral-motion to the beams. A plankfD, which serves for the drivers seat, is placed across and on top of the back ends of the beams C, to which it is fastened by means of bolts or pins a passing through them and allowing, as in the connection of the bar D with their forward ends, a lateral motion to the beams O. The holes c c in the plank Dhthe holes d d in the'cro'ss-bar D, and the holes a a in the beam A are intended for use in case it becomes desirable to make the machine narrower, which can be readily accomplished by transferring the bolts, pins, or hooks, already described, to those holes, as may be required.

The above-described arrangements are minutely mentioned and described in nearly the same language in a patent for cultivator issued to' myself on the twenty-first day of November of the present year; but, in said patent, no claim is especially made to them, therefore they are particularly introduced in this description as being of vital importance to the combined machine, and are claimed as such. The swinging-beam E, the links E, and their v connections A and e,'the pol e P, the plough-beam F, and cultivator-plough F, are precisely similar in detail of construction to the corresponding parts described in the patent above alluded to; so, also, are the slides G and G and props G*; therefore no moreparticular description of thcseparts need behere given.

At some point in the bottom of the pole P a connection will be made for the draught-rod M. In the accompanying drawings this is at the links 11,, where it would be in a machine designed to be drawn by two animals or any multiple of twoi In the case of a machine designed to be drawn by three animals this construction would not answer, as the pole would then be iirthe way of the animal working in the centre; therefore the draught-rod would be made to occupy the position indicated by the red lines in fig, 3. and attached to the pole atrn; but the draught-rod may be attached to the pole at any point between the point n and 1! Metallic straps m, on the end of the draught-rod M, hook into clevises m on the ends of the plough-beams M. The clevises m are of the usual construction of such devices for the ends of plough-beams, so as to give the plough more or less land. For the purpose of giving -to the plough-beams M the necessary amount of lateral rigidity, the guiding-bars M are fastened to them by means of a single bolt, so as to admit of a vertical motion, but not a lateral one. The upper ends of the guiding-bars M arepermittedto pass freely through the metallic guide m", which serves to confine them sufiieiently for procuring the necessary amount of lateral rigidity. The levers M for raising the ploughs M out of the ground, are, like the guiding-bars M", fastened to the beams M by a single bolt, m and for the same reason. A cord or chain, m is fastened to the top of the beam M of each plough, from whiehpoint it passes up over a pulley attached to the bottom of the plank D, and thence down to the lever M By pressing down the upper end of the lever M the driver can easily raise the ploughs M" out of the ground. The parts are so constructed and arranged that either the cultivator-ploughs F or the gang-ploughs M may he removed from the maehine'for the purpose of using the other; hence the machine may be converted either into a cultivator or gang-plough. When the machine is used as a cultivator the rests for the drivers feet will be as described in the patent already alluded to; but when it is to be used as a gang-plough, similar rests should be provided on some other part of the machine, as, for instance, the beams M". When the machine is to be converted into a gang-plough one ef the wheels must of necessity travel in the furrow, and the other on the surface of the field, thus making one of them higher than the other. To remedy this inequality of elevation I propose to make two hearings in each of the wheel-stands for the axles of the wheels, one of which will be higher than the other, so that the wheel which is to travel on the surface of thegrouhd-may lee-raised high enough up in the stand to make the machine stand perpendicular to the surface oi the field. The object of making both of the wheel-stands in this manner is to make the machine. either a right or left-hand plough. This construction is shown in the detail drawing of the wheel-stands, where the two bearings for the axle are indicated by the holes at No. 1 and No. 2.

' Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of the frame A C (1.1) D with the beams L and F, the draught-rods M, and either the eultivator-ploughs F and their attachments, orthe gang-ploughs M and their attachments, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the wheel-stands B ,with the frame A C C D D in such manner as to admit ot'lateral regulatory movements, substantially asa'nd for the purpose set forth;

3. The combination and arrangement of the lovers M with the beams M and cord or chain m, substantially as set forth.

4. The employment of the guiding-bars M when constructed and used as and for the purpose set fortln 5. The attachmentof the draught-rod M, for the plough-beams M, to the pole P, substantially as described.

WM. W. S1. JOHN.

Witnesses:

M, RAnnoLrn, A. Wneuuu. 

